Writers Abroad Magazine Issue 3 September 2015 | Page 23

WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE To There featuring Marit Meredith What brought you to Wales, UK, when and from where? I initially left Norway, my home country, in 1972, at the age of 18, in order to work in London as an au pair for a year (and to cure my home-sickness problem), but fate intervened. I was invited to Wales for a two-week holiday the month after I arrived, together with my charge and his grandparents, where I met my employer’s cousin. Three months later we got married—and I settled in Wales. That was 43 years ago. What are the advantages of living in Wales for a writer? Wales is steeped in history and mythology, and I love delving into local history, and family history, which in our case is linked way back to royalty, if research (and the BBC) is correct. Owain ap Meredydd ap Twdr, chose to break with tradition and chose Tudor (Twdr, his grandfather’s name)—and thus The House of Meredith never happened. We just need to fill in all those years in between. Or imagine them! Has your writing output increased since you came to Wales? Very much so, although not immediately, as the early years were busy, bringing up our six daughters and running a general store and post office. Is there anything you find hard to cope with in Wales? No. I was welcomed and included in the local community straight away and possibly feel more Welsh than Norwegian now. What impact did Wales have on you emotionally, sensorally or intellectually and did you incorporate this into your writing? I fell in love with Wales and its people when I first visited, going out every day of my holiday to draw canal bridges and castles, and getting immersed in the past history and sensing the lives that had gone before, living in this special place. Now— emotionally—is a hard time, as our local landscape is being desecrated by what is termed progress. It isn’t. In many instances living history is being destroyed. The landscape of Wales is breath-taking, (and reminiscent of areas in my home country) and inspiring, and I’m lucky to live in a very green valley (or half way up a Welsh hill side), although the road works are creeping a little bit too close for my liking. I’m also very interested in the country’s industrial past – especially locally. Intellectually, I suppose the most important influence was when I went to college (Cardiff Metropolitan University) in the latter part of the 90s, as a (very) mature student. I was introduced to philosophy – and that has influenced a lot of my writing—especially Diary of a Would-Be-Protagonist. What are local attitudes to writers? Very positive. Swapping cultures will always present new aspects to moral conclusions and assumptions. Does this reflect on your writing? I’m not so sure this applies in my instance. Moral conclusions and assumptions are similar back home in Norway, in my view—and after all these years, as I said, I’m really 23 | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5